The Invisible Woman Q&A - style and beauty

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Hi Helen,
I am a newly retired Head Teacher on a pension so need to be economical when buying clothes, even though I love doing so. I tend to resort to browsing at TKMaxx as so many shops which sell clothes for my age group are very expensive. I want modern clothes which are cut for a 'more mature' figure. Per Una seems to have become predictable and more suited for the 'older retired'. I have not yet explored any of the online retailers which are especially geared for 50+ women. Help!
Val

Hi Invisible Woman! I love your column in the Guardian and I follow your hilarious progress on Twitter.
My philosophy is to keep on the move as much as possible (no one can focus up on the sagging bits then if one is just a blur) and to look after my skin as best I can. What is your advice about moisturizer...? I give up sometimes as there are so many. I end up always buying No 7 (ever since that Horizon programme).

I also love your column. As an ex designer I hone in on simple shapes - colours which suit your skin tone and possibly - for occasionwear - dramatic detailing or a silhouette which emphasizes sophistication. Fussy cutesy decoration - especially of the girly type gets harder to pull off as you age.

I think useful guidance for readers might be a comparison of some wardrobe basics eg. where to buy good fitting white shirts, jeans, a pencil skirt and casual jacket. This could be accompanied by a size comparison of the favoured brands so that readers don't have to humiliate themselves by taking the wrong sizes into fitting rooms.

It's a confidence trick, we all like to think we're a size smaller than we actually are. Sizing has always differed between brands but some companies have got very mean with their material, there are garments are poorly tailored and poorly fitting they need exposing.

Hello,

I hope I am not too late to ask a question?
Helen is it possible to get feedback from you in developing my brand? I have responded to your article in the Guardian blog and am in the process of developing a collection for us ageless, stylish women.
Thanks

Hello Helen

I am in my 60s and have totally 'lost it' when it comes to clothes. Like most women, I used to know what suited me and was usually really happy with what I wore when I was younger. I am only slightly overweight (in the tummy area) but I am 5ft 6ins so I don't look too bad weight wise. Nothing I buy seems right. I will buy an item and be quite happy with it but when I actually wear it I look in a mirror or see a photograph and think 'what were you thinking'. I love skinny jeans and shirts but can never find the right ones. Any ideas/tricks for getting my sense of style back?

Just to ingratiate myself first, I much enjoy your Guardian column/blog and your tweets.
My question is about footwear. Do you have any views on the naffness/acceptability of trainers as part of a daily 'uniform'?
I ask because I am in a pickle with my ankle, which is taking ages to recover from wrecked tendons suffered six long, dreary, immobilised months ago. The only comfortable footwear is my erstwhile running shoes, obviously not currently in use for their original purpose. They are trouble-free to wear, whereas anything else more structured or with the slightest height gives me a bad time and I suffer afterwards.
Something of a trainer-ish tendency might do the trick, but do you have any thoughts on what?
(PS We're talking low-budget, inevitably . . .)
Very many thanks.

I've lost a stone, 14 and topheavy, but 12 on bottom half, long legs, one fat ankle owing to injury. Skinny trousers expose my cankles. Agree footwear problematic.
I avoid beige and wear bright colours on top of basic black T shirt, v neck, takes a few pounds off. But what is the matter with M and S and this years awful T shirts? Other shops?
Also any tips for making the best of very sparse lower eyelashes?

For the last ten years or more short cropped jackets seem to have replaced the comfortable longer styles which cover lumpy bits. I desperatley need a new jacket to wear with black trousers for work - where can I find one?

Hello - thanks for coming out and coming onto gransnet! My question is about boobs. Not fashion boobs, but breasts. As I have got older mine have got bigger, and bigger, and have really become a problem clotheswise because I have always been petite and narrow across the back. I often resort to wearing shapeless clothes but I still feel as though my tits are entering a room before I do. Any advice on how to dress in shapely clothes that don't emphasise the bosom?

Hello, I have to agree re. M&S T shirts!

I have been looking for well cut T shirts to wear under business suits, but want a slightly longer sleeve, i.e. just above the elbow. I actually found some a few years ago in the M&S Portfolio range. "Great" I thought, but of course M&S discontinued the range!

I found some by Kettlewell, but the prices are too high.

Surely I can't be the only one looking for such a basic wardrobe staple and failing to find it!

PS I have recently given my make up an overhaul, and found that swapping black eyeliner and mascara for brown gives a much softer look!

Why do someone women just carry on with the same look they had in their twenties and thirties?

Because I think they feel safe with it phoenix. They felt/looked good when they were 20 and now 30+ years on they are terrified of change.

I look at some of the fashions today that I loved when I was a teenager in the 70's and early 80's. I long to be able to wear them but would feel like mutton dressed as lamb now.

My daughters bought me a very nice white Cos t-shirt a couple of years ago. With the right bra and the little sailors running up and down hoisting it all up it looked great. It has just the right looseness on the upper arm at just the right length. It's really soft cotton and is now my new 'nightie'.

I LOVE eyeliner now I am in my sixties. I have used black as well as brown. Bobby Brown brown (appropriately!) is good and their black is lovely. But kayaking in Greece (yes at 65) I find that Maybelline just never shifts.
Am I dreadful?

I love eyeliner to, and I'm in my 70's, but I am never sure about which colour eye shadow looks best. I have hazel eyes and have used a dark brown for years, quite full on, but when I try a paler colour like lilac, which is supposed to be appropriate for a woman of certain years, my friends say I looked washed out. What do you advise please. My grand daughter bought me some fake lashes, but I have not been stupidbrave enough to wear them yet!!

I think shoes are a big problem. I can't wear much of a heel since I had my knees replaced and my feet have tended to swell more since then as well. At the moment I am making the most of the fashion for flat pumps, but it's not going to last for ever. It would be nice to find comfortable shoes at an affordable price.

My daughter is getting married in November. I have been looking online to see what the shops have to offer for my outfit and all the models modelling mother of the bride outfits are tall,size 10 and under thirty five. The price in those shops would make you run and hide. All outfits seem to be made of unforgiving satin. I'm 5ft 3 in and a size 16. I just don't know where to look or what to wear.

As I'm getting older I am drawn to wearing black a lot more. I love Cos and Hobbs for clothes and Cos especially do some lovely black tops. I just worry that wearing all black may be a little ageing. What is your opinion? Just have to add, I love your column and you are brilliant on Twitter!!

I don't do twitter or read the grauniad so I'm wondering what qualifies Helen as an advisor to women on Gransnet. I agreed with Petra but didn't voice my opinion but if you set yourself up as fashion advisor you should be able to defend your choices.

That's to HQ very politely

I seem to have lost the knack of getting a holiday wardrobe together. I can plan a good smart outfit for work, love dressing for formal dos and happily live in jeggings, ankle boots and nice tops off-duty in Autumn/Winter. But informal Summer dressing seems beyond me. Crop/white linen trousers make my bum look the size of a planet, ditching the opaque tights does my pasty legs no favours (and I hate the fake bake look) and I feel like mutton dressed as lamb in shorts anyway, if off the beach. I always end up wearing the same linen shifts I go to work in, and feeling a bit overdressed. Any advice would be appreciated!